The Phoenix and the Cat

Chapter 14

Note: I don't own Haikyuu and stuff.

They get to the park, settling under the shade of a tree. They all talk, mostly the moms gossiping as the boys play with the baby and talk quietly together. Fukunaga even holds the ball up as Tendou cradles her (after some pointers from Shohei, he'd been afraid to touch her with more than a fingertip or two but the cat insisted he wouldn't hurt her and it's go just fine as he directed the terrified dom), letting Chiyo smack it to her heart's content as well as the red spade on his tail she likes to gum to death (it's weirdly rewarding to feel it for Satori) as the omega carefully grabs it to dangle above the child to show the alpha how.

Shohei explains it helps a baby feel secure and allows a person to know what the baby is doing if they look away, adding the possibility of wrapping it around the tummy and back with gentle pressure to secure and support the child properly. He nearly swoons it's so sweet, Satori getting right into it once he knows how and the cat doesn't know if his heart can take it. It's strange to see the alpha so awkward and doting yet clearly happy to be handling the tiny child, an innocent happiness.

After a bit, the women take the baby back and shoo the boys go pass the volleyball back and forth. They relax and even talk a bit about their own childhoods when they take a walk around the park together after Tendou declares they should know each other's 'backstories' like they're superheroes, something random in relation to Chiyo bringing the topic up in the first place that neither quite remember.

Tendou shares his painful, lonely one while explaining how his oddly-small-for-an-alpha mother was a constant source of strength and companionship which is why they're more like friends than parent and child. He doesn't linger on how upset he'd get, trying to downplay how much it hurt in an effort to appear unaffected and focuses on other things like his mother being a small part Irish thus little differences to Japanese like his hair and his complexion aka light skin and freckles.

Shohei can tell the past bothers him, his instincts nagging him to comfort the alpha though he doesn't make any move to do so yet. Sa explains how his father hadn't wanted a child, wasn't ready, and wanted her to get an abortion, but she'd refused so he left a very young and pregnant Keiko who kept him and raised Satori with love anyway all on her own. She never held it against him like some parents do in those situations either, instead he was her whole world and vice versa. She isn't perfect by a long shot, but he honestly believes she's absolutely amazing and so strong.

He talks about how the kids at school would say monsters can't play on human teams or with humans when he'd try to join in activities, refusing to allow him to join anything. He was even rejected during partner classwork, the kids either being mean or downright afraid of the large alpha with the strange appearance and name.

At one point he recalls they'd gotten a new student who started to be friends with him but eventually turned on him with the rest of the boys in order to fit in, luring him into a trap to get ganged up on and beaten on their way home from school.

He stopped trying to befriend new kids so much after that. They made fun of him and beat him up, being tall but far too skinny to really do much damage back. He hadn't wanted to hurt anyone so he didn't really fight back, just defended himself or covered his head to keep from getting hit in the face. His mother had a field day with that one, he shudders at the memory. He'd been a lot more sensitive as a child, less aggressive by a long shot. The older and bigger he got, the more their rejection turned to hatred of him then fear when he started to retaliate. He was no exception either, learning being sensitive left him vulnerable and got meaner.

He's been in trouble with schools many times for fighting, groups getting believed over his solo opinion. No one backs up a monster after all, humans band together to get rid of them. He knew a lot of people found his unusual coloring and build creepy so he'd grown out the bowl cut he favored then to hide it and tried to fit in at least a little bit, at the same time he started to look up to anime characters who had elaborately spiked hair. He'd realized a lot of the truly strong characters had it.